Rob is a Realtor with Keller Williams Santa Monica, specializing in representing buyers and selllers of property within the City of Los Angeles and the great state of California. CalDRE# 01501493. Broker CalDRE#01499010

Friday, November 22, 2013

Porsche always has a very nice
stand at the #LAAutoshow and this year they outdid themselves with the
world premiere of the Macan and US premiere of the 918 Spyder. I was not
overly excitable when I heard about the just released Macan, thinking
it may be to much of a Q5 lookalike, until I saw it in person. I was
wrong. The #PorscheMacan has been designed very well, is pleasing to the
eye and is going to be a popular addition to the Porsche stable setting
the benchmark for the compact SUV market.

Both the Macan S and the Macan Turbo are powered by twin-turbo V6 engines.

For
the US market, the Macan S will have a base price of $49,900, will come
with all wheel drive and 7 speed Porsche Doppelkupplung PDK
transmission and a 3.0 liter, 340hp engine with 339 lb-ft of torque.
With the optional sport chrono package, you will be able to blast from
0-60 mph in 5.0 seconds to a top speed of 156 mph. Not bad for the base
model.

The
Macan Turbo with a base price of $72,300 will have the Porsche Active
Suspension Management (PASM), adaptive sports seats, Leather package,
navigation and BOSE surround sound in addition to the S and will also
have the PDK transmission. The engine is 3.6 liter with an output of
400hp at 6000rpm. 406 ft-lbs of torque and the optional sport chrono
package propel the Macan Turbo to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds, with a top
speed of 164 mph.

Both
the S and Turbo have 19 inch wheels, so I am not sure how you'll be
able to go hay bailing in the Macan ( not sure you can get a tow package
anyway ) , but it will certainly be a street warrior.

918 Spyder

The
US premiere of the electric hybrid 918 was at Los Angeles. The 918 is
to be built in limited numbers and will quickly be snapped up by
collectors and speculators. This race hybrid has, 4 wheel drive, a 4.6
liter V8 which revs to 9150rpm and has 608 HP and 2 electric engines
with a combined output of 887 hp. The 918 Spyder with all engines ago
will launch to 60 mph in 2.8 seconds and is capable of a 0-60 mph run of
7 seconds in full electric mode. The 918 Spyder also is capable of a
sub 7 minute run on the Nurburgring, which puts it in the legendary
category. Look for it at a charging station near you.

The 26 year old,
shall he win a 5th, will tie Juan Manuel Fangio and will be two short
of all time champion Michael Schumacher who blitzed to 7 championships
over his 20 year career in F1.

Red Bull has quite the team. They have mastermind designer Adrian Newey,
who seems to have the Midas touch when it comes to creating a winning
car, youngest championship winning team boss Christian Horner and of
course the access to the all important funds to make the team go. Red
Bull Racing had income of $285.4 million and expenses of $284.4
million in 2011. The revenue came from prize money ($88.8 million),
sponsors ($59.7 million), and the remainder from Red Bull. Expenses
included $112.8 million in research and development and $82.7 million in
salaries for 605 employees.

Vettel's
current team mate Australian Mark Webber is retiring at the end of the
year to go racing Porsche's. His replacement is fellow Ozzie Daniel
Ricciardo who is being promoted from Red Bull's feeder team Torro Rosso.

For
2014 the engines in the pinnacle of motorsport are going from the
current 2.4 liter naturally aspirated v8's to a 1.6 liter turbocharged
v6 which should shake the field up and make 2014 a very exciting year.

Rumor is the Mercedes has the engine to beat....Time will tell.

Kimi
Raikkonen is leaving Lotus and retuning to Ferrari for 2014 to replace
Felipe Massa who is going to Williams. It was rumored earlier in the
year that Nico Hulkenburg who is a great driver was off to Ferrari, but
Kimi who won his championship with Ferrari in 2007 beat him to the seat.
Nick Hulkenburg is tipped to be favorite to replace Kimi at Lotus, if
the team can get their budget together.

We are off to the LA Auto show with
our camera's and note pads. We will be reporting back to you with all
of the latest information and worldwide vehicle debut's as they happen.
Watch www.autoreports.blogspot.com for the latest information as it happens this week.